The Prototype - Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad class X26 is an externally-braced 40-foot boxcar built near the end of World War I. These cars could carry up to 100,000lbs (50 tons). The PRR had 9,900 of these wood-paneled cars of which 3,500 were rebuilt in the late 1940's with steel side panels and reclassified as "X26c".
(#564287, source: Steam Freight Cars web site)
The Model #44824
The model shown below of road number 44824 is by S-Helper Service, Inc., part number 01839. The detail is excellent and it appears to be a very accurate model. The road number is correct (one of a series of numbers between 44001 and 46725, inclusive). The model only has one flaw; the railroad name is missing the first "N". That should be easy to fix, because the space is there for the first "N". The car has the correct Andrews 2D-F3 trucks, which are actually sprung. The doors slide open. The circle-keystone logo is correct for the era I model.

(HO-scale Proto Max couplers installed)
Articles
- 04-24-2010 - Couplers & Wheels
- 11-20-2010 - Decals
- 04-28-2010 - Photo Gallery
The Model #518392
The model shown below of road number 518392 is by S-Helper Service, Inc., part number 00067. I got it second-hand. Judging by the part number this must be an old model. Unlike the newer model above, this one appears to have all the lettering. It also appears to be a very accurate model and its road number is also correct (one of a series of numbers between 518217 and 518949, inclusive). It has a different style door than #44824. It is pretty obvious that it is a different color. It is a very dark red. The other difference is that this model's doors don't open.

(HO-scale Proto Max couplers installed)

(latest photo with weathering applied)
References
- Steam Freight Cars web site has at least one other photo.
- PRR Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, Vol. 2, page 33.
- X26 classes and its sub-classes.
- Side profile diagram.
- Excellent photo of an X26 in 1926 (click the photo for a very high-resolution image).